Born in Head Tide, Maine on December 22nd, 1869, and was the 3rd son of Edward and Mary Elizabeth Robinson
When he was young, he was always fascinated with words and became knows as "the incorrigible fisher of words"
Dr. Schuman was the man who recognized Edwin's talents and began to tutor Edwin on proper poetry forms like sonnets, ballads, and villanelles
He started writing poetry when he was 11
Went to Harvard from 1891 to 1893
In 1896 he published The Torrent And The Night Before and The Children of the Night in 1897
Some of his major works include Richard Cory, Haunted House, Mr Flood's Party, Maya, and Miniver Cheevy
Edwin Arlington Robinson
When Edwin was little, he liked to play word games with his friends where they'd have competitions to see who could fine the largest word in the Bible, or any regular book. He won one time with the word "Nebuchadnezzer"
He had an insanely crooked mustache
When he was a teenager, he once said "It must have been the year 1889 when I realized finally - that I was doomed... to the writing of poetry"
He formed a small poetry club called "the Quadruped Club"
The Story of the Ashes and the Flame
No matter why, nor whence, nor when she came,
There was her place. No matter what men said,
No matter what she was; living or dead,
Faithful or not, he loved her all the same
The story was as old as human shame
But ever since that lonely night she fled,
With books to blind him, he had only read
The story of the ashes and the flame
There she was always coming pretty soon
To fool him back, with penitent scared eyes
That had him in the laughter of the moon
For baffled lovers, and to make him think --
Before she gave him time enough to wink --
Sin's kisses were the keys to Paradise
Analysis: This poem is about a man who loves a woman very much. No matter what mood she's in, no matter what she does, no matter where she is, no matter if she's living or dead, he will always love her. No matter how hard he tried, she will always "fool him back, with penitent scared eyes".
Rhyme Scheme: A, B, B, A, A, B, B, A, C, D, C, E, E, D
I liked this poem because I felt connected to the poem like I did with Eros Turannos. It's a great poem that shows how much a man loved a woman no matter what. Even if he was miserable, he didn't care because he still had her.
Poetic devices: Metaphor
Eros Turannos
She fears him, and will always ask
What fated her to choose him;
She meets in his engaging mask
All reason to refuse him
But what she meets, and what she fears
Are less than are the downward years
Drawn slowly to the foamless weirs
Of age were she to lose him
Between a blurred sagacity
That once had power to sound him,
A Love, that will not let him be
The Judas that she found him,
He pride assuages her almost
As if it were alone the cost --
He sees that he will not be lost,
And waits, and looks around him
A sense of ocean, and old trees
Envelops and allures him
Tradition touching all he sees
Beguiles and reassures him
And all her doubts of what he says
Are dimmed with what she knows of days
Till even Prejudice delays
And fades, and she secures him
The falling leaf inaugurates
The reign of her confusion
The pounding wave reverberates
The dirge of her illusion
And home, where passion lived and died
Becomes a place where she can hide
While all the town and harbor side
Vibrate with her seclusion
We tell you tapping on our brows
The story as it should be
As if the story of a house
Were told or ever could be
We'll have no kindly veil between
Her visions and those we have seen
As if we guessed what hers have been
Or what they are or could be
Meanwhile, we do no harm for they,
That with a God have striven
Not hearing much of what we say
Take what the God has given
And like waves breaking it may seem
Or like a changed familiar tree
Or like a stairway to the sea
Where down the blind are driven.
Analysis: This poem is about two people who loved each other once, and now their love is dying out. The story is mainly told about the wife who's struggling to save her marriage with her husband who she doesn't want to be with anymore.
Rhyme scheme: A, B, A, B, C, C, C, B, D, E, D, E, F, F, F, E, G, H, G, H, G, G, G, H, I, J, I J, K, K, K, J, L, M, L, M, N, N, N, M, O, P, O, P, Q, Q, Q, P
I liked this poem because Robinson used interesting metaphors and similes to help the reader understand the difficulty of this couple's marriage. I felt like I could understand what they were going through
Poetic Devices: Simile, Metaphor, Alliteration, Imagery, and symbolism
Richard Cory
Whevever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown
Clean-favoured and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked,
But still he fluttered pulses when he said
Good Morning!" and glittered when he walked
And he was rich, yes, richer than a king!
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine -- we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked and waited for the light,
And went without meat and cursed the bread,
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet in his head
Analysis: This poem is about a man who has everything a person could want: fame, fortune, luxury etc. But even though he looks happy and he looks like he has everything he could possibly want, he still felt empty on the inside. This poem shows that you can't just judge someone based on their outside appearance because what you see on the outside may not reflect the feelings someone has inside.
Rhyme Scheme: A, B, A, B, C, D, C, D, E, F, E, F, G, H, G, H
I personally liked this poem because it's very true that you can't look at someone and automatically know how they feel on the inside, and you don't know what they could be going through on the inside. Just because someone appears to be the happiest person on Earth, doesn't always mean they are.
Edwin Arlington Robinson
No matter why, nor whence, nor when she came,
There was her place. No matter what men said,
No matter what she was; living or dead,
Faithful or not, he loved her all the same
The story was as old as human shame
But ever since that lonely night she fled,
With books to blind him, he had only read
The story of the ashes and the flame
There she was always coming pretty soon
To fool him back, with penitent scared eyes
That had him in the laughter of the moon
For baffled lovers, and to make him think --
Before she gave him time enough to wink --
Sin's kisses were the keys to Paradise
Analysis: This poem is about a man who loves a woman very much. No matter what mood she's in, no matter what she does, no matter where she is, no matter if she's living or dead, he will always love her. No matter how hard he tried, she will always "fool him back, with penitent scared eyes".
Rhyme Scheme: A, B, B, A, A, B, B, A, C, D, C, E, E, D
I liked this poem because I felt connected to the poem like I did with Eros Turannos. It's a great poem that shows how much a man loved a woman no matter what. Even if he was miserable, he didn't care because he still had her.
Poetic devices: Metaphor
She fears him, and will always ask
What fated her to choose him;
She meets in his engaging mask
All reason to refuse him
But what she meets, and what she fears
Are less than are the downward years
Drawn slowly to the foamless weirs
Of age were she to lose him
Between a blurred sagacity
That once had power to sound him,
A Love, that will not let him be
The Judas that she found him,
He pride assuages her almost
As if it were alone the cost --
He sees that he will not be lost,
And waits, and looks around him
A sense of ocean, and old trees
Envelops and allures him
Tradition touching all he sees
Beguiles and reassures him
And all her doubts of what he says
Are dimmed with what she knows of days
Till even Prejudice delays
And fades, and she secures him
The falling leaf inaugurates
The reign of her confusion
The pounding wave reverberates
The dirge of her illusion
And home, where passion lived and died
Becomes a place where she can hide
While all the town and harbor side
Vibrate with her seclusion
We tell you tapping on our brows
The story as it should be
As if the story of a house
Were told or ever could be
We'll have no kindly veil between
Her visions and those we have seen
As if we guessed what hers have been
Or what they are or could be
Meanwhile, we do no harm for they,
That with a God have striven
Not hearing much of what we say
Take what the God has given
And like waves breaking it may seem
Or like a changed familiar tree
Or like a stairway to the sea
Where down the blind are driven.
Analysis: This poem is about two people who loved each other once, and now their love is dying out. The story is mainly told about the wife who's struggling to save her marriage with her husband who she doesn't want to be with anymore.
Rhyme scheme: A, B, A, B, C, C, C, B, D, E, D, E, F, F, F, E, G, H, G, H, G, G, G, H, I, J, I J, K, K, K, J, L, M, L, M, N, N, N, M, O, P, O, P, Q, Q, Q, P
I liked this poem because Robinson used interesting metaphors and similes to help the reader understand the difficulty of this couple's marriage. I felt like I could understand what they were going through
Poetic Devices: Simile, Metaphor, Alliteration, Imagery, and symbolism
Whevever Richard Cory went down town,
We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown
Clean-favoured and imperially slim.
And he was always quietly arrayed,
And he was always human when he talked,
But still he fluttered pulses when he said
Good Morning!" and glittered when he walked
And he was rich, yes, richer than a king!
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine -- we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.
So on we worked and waited for the light,
And went without meat and cursed the bread,
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet in his head
Analysis: This poem is about a man who has everything a person could want: fame, fortune, luxury etc. But even though he looks happy and he looks like he has everything he could possibly want, he still felt empty on the inside. This poem shows that you can't just judge someone based on their outside appearance because what you see on the outside may not reflect the feelings someone has inside.
Rhyme Scheme: A, B, A, B, C, D, C, D, E, F, E, F, G, H, G, H
I personally liked this poem because it's very true that you can't look at someone and automatically know how they feel on the inside, and you don't know what they could be going through on the inside. Just because someone appears to be the happiest person on Earth, doesn't always mean they are.
Poetic Devices: Imagery and Hyperbole